The Nokia Lumia 920 or LG Nexus 4: Which is right for you?

Two of the hottest smartphones out there right now are the Nokia Lumia 920 and LG Nexus 4, and both are currently hard to find at retailers as a direct result.

If you are are someone just looking for a new smartphone and really don’t have you heart set on a particular ecosystem, how do you know what you should get? Preference certainly comes down to it, but both Windows Phone 8 and Android have their strong points, same goes for the Lumia 920 versus the Nexus 4.

Considering how different these two phones really are, this isn’t at all a direct comparison or an article that is declaring one better than the other. Merely, let’s point out what each phone offers and why you should consider buying it.

LG Nexus 4

The LG Nexus 4 is a solid smartphone with a pure Android 4.2 experience, that means you don’t get all the bulk that comes with carrier and vendor-loaded software. The hardware in the LG Nexus 4 is equally impressive, especially when you consider that it starts at just $299 with no contract required.

The LG Nexus 4 has a 4.7-inch IPS 1280×768 display with 320ppi, a Snapdragon S4 Pro processor, 2GB of RAM and 16GB of storage. There might not be LTE, but there is at least HSPA+ speeds. You’ll also find an 8MP camera, NFC, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and wireless charging. As for storage, there is just 8GB or 16GB.

Honestly, the LG Nexus 4 is a near-perfect device from a hardware standpoint at a killer price. Is it perfect? No, there have been reports of a few problems, but again all new phones seem to have launch issues.

Why would you want to consider the LG Nexus 4?

You want the Android ecosystem and the 700,000+ apps supported by it.

You want a pure Android experience, no bloat.

If you plan to use prepaid, or want to avoid contracts, the LG Nexus 4 is hard to beat.

Nokia Lumia 920

Again, a full comparison here isn’t possible simply because Windows Phone 8 and Android are two very different animals. Is one OS better than the other? Depends on who you ask, but honestly they are both quite capable smartphone operating systems.

The Nokia Lumia 920 has a slightly smaller screen at 4.5-inches, but at the same time it is touted as the “fastest display” on the market right now. As for the rest of the specs, you get a 1.5GHz dual-core Snapdragon processor, 1GB RAM, an 8.7MP PureView camera, 32GB storage, LTE, Wi-Fi, GPS, NFC and Bluetooth. There is also a unique feature that is said to allow the Lumia 920 to work while wearing gloves.

Both the Lumia 920 and Nexus 4 have wireless charging options as well.

On paper, the quad-core power and 2GB of RAM found in the LG Nexus 4 certainly beats out what the Nokia Lumia 920 is bringing to the table. Still, you have to realize that different operating systems have different RAM/processor demands. Supposedly Windows Phone 8 has been optimized to the point you won’t hardly tell the difference, but if you truly are all about speed– you might want a quad-core Android device. Still, I had the opportunity to briefly play with a Nokia Lumia 920 recently and found it to be very fluid and responsive, so take that how you will.

A major strong point for the Nokia Lumia 920 is that it has an excellent camera with an optical image stabilizer and is honestly much sharper than what the Nexus 4 has to offer.

Like the LG Nexus 4, the Nokia Lumia 920 is a solid phone, though it to had a few problems at launch. Why should you consider a Windows Phone 8-based Nokia Lumia 920?

For those in the US, the Lumia 920 is great if you have good AT&T coverage.

You want a new OS with customizable tiles that is clearly different.

The idea of being an early adopter and having less app selection doesn’t bother you.

You are a fan of Nokia’s hardware.

You want LTE speeds, something not offered by the LG Nexus 4.

Conclusion

Honestly, this all boils down to three things: operating system, pricing and carrier coverage. Both of these phones are highly innovative and solid. I would be more than happy using either of these as my daily driver.

The LG Nexus 4 has set a new bar for pricing, and Android is a flexible operating system with a highly established ecosystem. As for the Nokia Lumia 920, it has an equally stunning design, a unique OS that is like nothing else on the market right now (expect for Windows 8 and RT), and has tight integration with Office and other Microsoft products.

Which device would you recommend? The Nexus 4 or the Lumia 920? Do you have any other reasons to consider getting one phone or platform over the other that we didn’t mention?

There are tons of deals from the Amazon Appstore that will be offered starting now and throughout the holiday shopping season. They say that they will have "hundreds of titles that are eitehr free... or available between 50-90% off" the regular price.

Case in point, if you head over to the Google Play Store right now, you'll find that Google is celebrating all Cyber Weekend with discounts on all sorts of content. This includes many popular apps and games

If you were hoping to save yourself some cash as you brave the Black Friday shopping crowds, you'll want to go somewhere other than the official Apple Stores.

ijokic

Had Lumia 920 for two weeks, now having Nexus 4 and it works flawlessly *except calendar widget sometimes flicker ,so I don’t have nothing really to complain about. Still, Lumia 920 is something you just need to experience, and I am getting it back next week.

darkZ

I thought about all the phones on the market for a while. I settled on Lumia 920 because of its camera, offline navigation and free streaming music. Loving it at the moment. Beautiful phone. And I say that coming from an iphone background. There are a few missing things as with any new OS/phone but I can’t think about going back.

Kzn_Rocks

Just got Lumia 920. Moving from iPhone / Samsung Android I thought that I would miss icons and apps. To be honest – going back to either would feel exactly that. Very impressed. Only issue, but this was the same when I originally moved to Samsung Android was the number of apps. Sure this will change soon.

http://www.facebook.com/bhavinelite Bhavin Shah

The new Nokia Lumia 920….

kent ma

Lumia 920 is the way to go man, you can throw away your camera or not buy one that is what needed to be mentioned here. Although Lumia 920 is more expensive but really not because it also serves as a $400 camera.

Ryan1234

Went with the Lumia 920…Beautiful.

http://www.facebook.com/frank.haller.18 Frank Haller

Nokia Devices: pure offline turn-by-turn navigation. Always appreciated having a free nav solution, the maps laying on my device. No need for a permanent data connection to load data. Great! Together with augmented reality there’s just one decission for me: Lumia 920

LOL

being an early “adopter” lol

Kushmunasinghe

i would go with Nexus 4, but lumia 920 is also a great device with a great camera, but its heavier than any other smartphone in the market.

liberalrepublic

The extra weight on 920 is because of wireless charging and all the coils needed for that to happen.

JOE Thomas

The nexus 4 also has wireless charging but both are great devices

Fj Cruzme

I would like to have Lumia 920..so great design

Dreg

For sure Lumia920. Super fast response and beautiful design. Im so glad i bought this new masterpiece of phone. Feels solid. Thanks Nokia!

Alfred

I wish to own both. Am I too greedy?

http://www.facebook.com/william.boyce.14 William Boyce

I got lumia 920 , just on better standard of build and quality. , i love it, its my new right arm lol.i been through a lot of mobs and this is by far the best

mark beckford

Don’t know about that. B/C everyone said the same thing about the nexus 4.